Dealers running drugs into Aberystwyth have been warned by a judge that they face spending a lot of time in jail.

Judge Paul Thomas was speaking as he sentenced a Liverpool man to 27 months after he admitted driving towards the town with £5,000 worth of high quality heroin in his underpants.

Jack English, 20, of Storrington Road, Liverpool, admitted possessing a class A drug with intent to supply.

Jim Davis, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court how police had intelligence about a Ford Focus and in October 2017, spotted it on the A487 between Talybont and Aberystwyth.

English was driving and, after his arrest, officers found 24.9 grams of heroin with a high 49 per cent purity rate in his underpants.

An examination of the packaging revealed the DNA of English’s father, who was later jailed for 13 years for robbery but died last May while in prison in Liverpool from an overdose of a Spice drug.

Further investigation showed that the Focus and Jack English’s phone had made nine previous trips from Liverpool to Aberystwyth.

Mr Davis said English’s father could have made those trips although his son now accepted being present during some of them.

Judge Thomas said people who spread misery caused by class A drugs will be dealt with severely.

“People coming to Wales with high class drugs can expect to spend a lot of time in jail,” he said.